Interviews

Last week saw Part One of our Interview with Connor from Kingsland Road! (If you haven’t read it check it out >>> here)

Part Two has even more laughs, what the boys would be doing if they weren’t in a band, Cats and the best of YOUR fan questions.

Once again, check it out and let us know what you think.

– Brumotions: You will soon be heading on a US Tour what are you most looking forward to out there?

Connor:Just going to America, I’m excited to get on a plane, leave and get to the US. Like there’s big burgers there which is cool, going to a couple of theme parks which is going to be awesome oh and I’m hoping I’ll get to go and watch an American football match… but I doubt I will.

– Brumotions: We will be really jealous if you do.

Connor:I know I want to go and watch, but I highly doubt that will happen. We are just really excited to get to a different country. We’ve done gigs in different countries before but not in America, we’ve had some American fans from right at the start so they have been waiting for a couple of years for us to go out there, so it will be really nice for us to see them and see how they feel about our music and see if we can gain some new fans whilst we are out there.

– Brumotions: Have you ever had any interesting fan experiences?

Connor: Uhm yes, let me try and think… we’ve had bra’s and different things thrown on stage, things I can’t say. We get given some decent presents too and some funny ones, someone got me a mirror with Leonardo DiCaprio’s face on it and someone got Josh a ken doll but with his face on it and people have waited in our flat to give us pictures and stuff, yeah they have managed to get their way into our flat and things like that.

– Brumotions: We aren’t quite sure if that’s cute or a little scary.

Connor: It was a little scary actually. It’s really hard to remember things that have happened, funny things always happen to us but we forget when we need to tell them.

– Brumotions: If you weren’t in Kingsland Road what would you be doing?

Connor: I always wanted to be in the Marines when I was a kid, so that’s probably what I’d be doing right now, I think Matt…Well Matt was a builder so he’d probably still be laying bricks and stuff. Josh, this is actually what josh would want to be doing, he’d probably be like, I dunno, a lifeguard, let’s just say a lifeguard and Thompson would work in a kennels…cause he likes dogs.

– Brumotions: Is that just a guess or have they actually told you this?

Connor:Nahhh that’s what they’ve told me.

– Brumotions: Alright then, we believe you.

Connor:Yeah you’ve got to believe me.

– Brumotions: Are there any advice or motto’s that you live by?

Connor: I’ve got cool sayings which I’ve heard people say that I like, but nothing that I kind of live by there’s things that as a band we tell people if they ask us – just not to give up and things like that and if someone tells you that you can’t do it, prove them wrong kind of thing, that’s probably the nicest thing being told you can’t do something and proving them wrong and being successful kind of knowing yourself and having the faith in yourself to do it and you do and that’s really nice a good feeling… Josh is the man for this, josh has like this app on his phone and everyday he reads us out like this little quote, it’s like quote of the day, he’s very sad like that and likes that kind of thing. It’s like horoscopes but it’s like a saying from like a president in the 60’s or something.

Fan Questions:

– Brumotions: So we have a couple of questions from your Klanders.

Connor: Go on then, hit me.

– Brumotions: @Elliee_Rixton wants to know who you would love to do a collaboration with?

Connor:I’m really obsessed with a couple of bands at the minute, Royal Blood and Catfish and the Bottlemen they would be sick to collaborate with, Adam Levine would be quite cool… Thompson would say Bruno Mars cause he’s obsessed with him …I think collaborating with Eminem would be cool as well, like a rapper or Tinie Tempah that would be cool.

– Brumotions: @MollieFinch1234 wants to know if you could date any one of the lads in Kingsland, who would it be and why … you can pick yourself we won’t judge.

Connor:The other lads annoy me sometimes and I don’t annoy myself, so I feel like that’s my best bet really, I’d never argue with myself, but I would argue with the other boys. So I’m going to say I’d date myself.

– Brumotions: Would you not find it boring being exactly the same?

Connor:But I suppose that’s what’s good, you have to be similar to be compatible with someone, we’d be the perfect couple we’d get married.

– Brumotions: @JoshZareIsMyMan asked if you could be any other celebrity for the day who would you be and why?

Connor: Someone interesting who’d have a really interesting day, I’d want to be somebody like Cristiano Ronaldo because that would be cool to see how good he is at football, like actually how good he is.

– Brumotions: We wonder whether that would change his talent if it was you that was playing football.

Connor:Nah I’d be better … no I wouldn’t really, that’s why I’d want to be him to see how amazing he actually is … and he’s very very very rich so that would be cool to see his house and stuff.

– Brumotions: @BethRitchiexxx wants to know what are you looking forward to most on tour.

Connor: Singing our new songs that’s going to be amazing and our London tour date for reasons I can’t say that will be really cool and to see all of our fans.

– Brumotions: @mattcahilltho_ wants to know if you were a superhero, what power would you have and what would your name be?

Connor:I’d be amazing at cleaning up and I’d be called Consuela, which is a little family guy joke if you get it… I’d usually say something like healing the wounded but then the lads would laugh at me for being really cringy so I’ve had to change my answer recently.

– Brumotions: And the last question from the Brumoters is, if you could be any animal what would you be and why.

Connor:Uhm a penguin cause they are really cool and they can swim in the ice water without getting cold and they are really cute as well, either that or a dog, I wouldn’t want to be a cat cause they are mean, I don’t like cats.

– Brumotions: But you could just change the way of cats… you could be a nice cat.

Connor:I don’t think they exist.

– Brumotions: You could be the first one…

Connor:I could be… no, cats are different you can’t breed like a nice cat, i’d have to breed with another nice cat and me being the only nice cat wouldn’t create a nice cat if you know what I mean.

– Brumotions: It sounds like you’ve put a lot of thought into that actually.

Connor:I have, its true though isn’t it, if I was the first nice cat, I couldn’t then breed with a horrible cat because it would be like, it wouldn’t be horrible or it wouldn’t be nice, it would be an average.

– Brumotions: Yeah make an average cat.

Connor:Yeah an average cat, who’d want an average cat that would be boring.

– Brumotions: Before we finish, if you have any last words for the fans that would be awesome.

Connor:Come and watch our tour, buy our album, let’s get in the charts cause I said that if we do I’ll run down my street naked… there we go last words.

So there you have it!

You guys heard Connor – If ‘We Are The Young’ charts he’ll run down his street NAKED! (You can purchase the album from online retailers including: Google Play, ITunes and Amazon, as well as your local HMV store)

Earlier this month we got the chance to chat with the lovely Connor from Kingsland Road to get to know the band a little better and see what they have planned for the future.

This interview has plenty of laughs, Tour Gossip, The Queen and King Con… you heard us right! Check it out and let us know what you think.

– Brumotions: Hello

Connor:I’m in the gym at the minute so I’m just going to go find somewhere quiet…two seconds… alright I’m somewhere, I’m cool.

– Brumotions: So for those who don’t know you guys, what makes Kingsland Road, Kingsland Road?

Connor: I don’t think there’s anything that defines us. I don’t know how to answer that one… we’re always late, not for important things obviously, we are weirdo’s, which is one of the main ones and everybody has beards … apart for me…. I don’t think there are any other boybands with beards.

– Brumotions: …Actually no they don’t do they.

Connor:I think they like having beards because it makes them feel like they’re in a man band rather than a boyband… I’m comfortable not having a beard.

– Brumotions: If you could describe your sound in three words what would they be?

Connor:Weird, Funky, Pop… I don’t know.

– Brumotions: So your debut album is coming out March 15th, how does it feel?

Connor: It’s really weird, the official statement that I said myself was that if someone had said to us two years ago, when we were first starting that we would have an album we’d slap em in the face and laugh at them.

I don’t think that we ever realised that it would happen and now that it has and its full of our own songs that we have written ourselves and spent a lot of time on, it feels a lot better so it’s cool.

– Brumotions: So at the moment is it still very surreal?

Connor:Yeah, still very, very surreal because obviously we started out just to gig and write music and we didn’t realise eventually we’d have all of the songs we’ve written on an album, on iTunes. Everything that’s happened in the past couple of years has been unbelievable really and we have kinda surpassed our own expectations and it keeps happening which is amazing, we couldn’t be happier at the minute.

– Brumotions: What can we expect from the album and which track is your personal favourite?

Connor: We are proud of all of the tracks as we wrote them all which I think is quite rare nowadays that every album that is released is written purely yourself which is the case of ours, every song we wrote, drawing from different things and stuff that happened to us. All the lads would have a different favourite, mines probably ‘Freedom’, it’s one of the first songs we wrote when we came from The X Factor and I just like it, I feel a connection with it.

I think every track is different that’s the thing, we listened through the other day together and every track is just really different, we didn’t plan just to go into the studio and write different sounding tracks, it kinda just happened and its really cool and organic, normally albums have 1 sound throughout and ours kind of has different sounds which is cool .

– Brumotions: We are really looking forward to it.

Connor:I’m glad.

– Brumotions: So you’ve also got a tour coming up soon can you give us any spoilers?

Connor:No spoilers, I know there’s one very exciting thing happening in London, which we are working on at the minute, I can’t give too much away but we’ve been practising and its awesome … it’s just going to be a really cool tour. It’s the tour before we head to America so we want to give the UK a massive musical hug and kiss before we head off out there for a bit and then obviously come back but it’s going to be amazing. We are very excited to tour and we love touring, that’s where we like being the most, on stage, so we are excited to see all of our fans from around the UK.

– Brumotions: What are your favourite tracks to play live?

Connor:Some of them we haven’t played live yet off the album but my favourite to play live … I don’t know I just love performing live all the time. I know the rest of the lads love performing ‘Shoreline’, I know like Josh and Thomps they like ‘Shoreline’ live I like ‘Walk Away’ which is one of my favourites, I just love how rocky it is and ‘He’s Got It Coming’ which is on the album, which we performed on our last tour but we have revamped it a bit there’s a new tune to it and there might be a little rap to it … who knows… there’s a little exclusive for you guys don’t tell anybody.

– Brumotions: Can you give us some gossip on what it’s like to tour with you guys are you all work and no party?

Connor:Its smelly… well not THAT smelly, its tiring and you know what, we are party animals sometimes but when they’re tired we do NOT party. I think the last tour we didn’t really go out, it was the same time as our EP and our single launch so we were shooting from Glasgow to London to do Lorraine and it was a bit mental so we didn’t actually have time to go out and party, we had a party on our last night, which was when we released our EP and we were in the club at like one o’clock at night and it went live and we were at number two in the charts on iTunes so we were buzzing and we got absolutely smashed, it was amazing. Yeah we do like to party but at the same time we are serious about music and performing so we don’t like to get so messed up that we can’t sing and perform as that’s the main thing we like doing.

– Brumotions: So is partying crossed off your list for this tour too then?

Connor:Yeah, I think it is actually, especially in America as well, it is very cramped as well, the last tour we had we were in a car as our tour van broke down, so we were in a 5 seater car and we were so rammed, it was horrible.

– Brumotions: Speaking of tour and live shows have you ever asked for anything ridiculous on a tour rider?

Connor:NO, aha we’re alright actually with our riders we only ask for like beer and sandwiches oh and towels and that’s it cause we get really sweaty. The other lads like to have a beer before they go on and I just get hungry so I like sandwiches before I go on that’s it, that’s all we ask for.

– Brumotions: You should start asking for outrageous stuff.

Connor:We’ve been to gigs before where all the riders have been laid out on a table for the artists and we had the smallest by far, we’ve never got used to that so we’ve never took the mick out of it, it’s just the simple things that we need.

– Brumotions: This is a question we ask everyone we interview, if you were to take the queen on a date where would you take her and why?

Connor:I reckon I’d take her to Buckingham Palace because I don’t think she’s ever been there; I don’t think she lives there does she?

– Brumotions: I think she lives there sometimes…

Connor: It would be cool to take her somewhere like Buckingham palace where she SUPPOSEDLY lives but…. Surely she doesn’t live there, with everybody watching her all the time. I’d take her on a tour of London as I think she’d appreciate that, as I’m sure she never gets to see the proper dingy parts, I’d take her to Soho.

– Brumotions: What about the London Eye?

Connor:Yeah exactly, and take her on the tube and stuff as I think she’s been deprived of that, then we’d go to McDonalds and have like a Big Mac as I bet she’s never had one.

– Brumotions: Would you pay?

Connor:Yeah, I suppose, and then we’d head to the cinema or something, but we wouldn’t go in the deluxe seats, we’d go in the proper rubbish seats and give her the experience of living like us… she’d love that, it’s like a Romcom where a rich girl goes out with a poor kid and he romances her with all the poor things he could do, I think I’d win her over and I’d be the future king if that happened.

– Brumotions: King Con, it’s got a bit of a ring to it hasn’t it.

– Connor:Exactly, King Con.

#Klanders, keep your eyes open for PART TWO which will be posted later this week!

It has even more laughs , Josh as a lifeguard, Cats and YOUR fan questions!

Kingsland Road’s debut album ‘We Are The Young’ is out NOW and can be purchased online on ITunes OR at your local HMV.

The band are also currently on tour – Tickets can be purchased at: http://www.livenation.co.uk/artist/kingsland-road-tickets

Sunday saw part ONE of our interview with soon to be pop sensations – The Secrets. Our interview with the lads was so long we had to split this into two parts.

This interview includes even more laughs and fan questions.

If you had to describe each other in one word what would it be?

Luke: I have many words to describe Lewis, I’d say the main one is Lunatic he’s absolutely crazy, he’s hyper all the time, and he’s just a general lunatic I’d like to get a word which incorporates his generosity and niceness in there as well but he is an absolute lunatic like he’ll go around Asda just screaming… he’ll probably be playing Bogies with himself.

Lewis: Bogies.

Luke: Like that.

Lewis: So mine for Josh, can we have a word that has like a – in the middle?

I suppose we will let you off with that…

Luke: That’s against the rules.

Lewis: Pretty – Boy, I think that’s my word for Josh.

Josh: WHAT?

Lewis: Not that I fancy Josh or anything but he’s just so perfect, like he’ll get up in the morning, he’ll literally look at his hair and spray it with hairspray quick and BAM he’s done and he just looks good straight away and he’s like so photogenic… so that’s my word for Josh.

Josh: Ahh this is awkward… Luke, I’m not sure I’ll probably just say he’s just cool, just the way he dresses, the way he acts… he’s pretty cool to be fair.

Luke: I was expecting a word beginning with S and ending in T… well thank you Josh.

If you were to take the Queen on a date where would you take her and why?

Josh: Nandos.

Lewis: A chippy in Bolton, It’s one of the cheapest chippys that I’ve ever seen, you can get a burger, chips AND a can of coke for £2.

Josh: So you’d take the queen there?

Lewis: I think that’s where I’d take the queen and I’d be like check what we’re living – Poverty that’s where it’s at.

Luke: I went on a date once at the Tamworth snow dome, I would definitely recommend tobogganing.

Lewis: The Queen tobogganing? She’d fall apart.

Luke: She would absolutely love it and there’s a Starbucks there afterwards, so I’d buy her a ginger spiced Latté so that would be a perfect date for me and the Queen.

We have a couple of questions from your fans, so the first one is from @Amieeyoung1996 and she wants to know what’s the best thing about being in a band?

Lewis: I’m going to say the interaction with the fans, I mean everything’s great about being in a band, the playing side of its amazing and actually learning to practise writing your own music is all amazing but up until starting The Secrets we never actually had dedicated loyal fans and you’ve got to make friendships with your fans, it’s really amazing that we can go busking and we can say what time we are going and a load of our fans turn up and we can hang out with them, it’s just amazing.

Luke: Yeah I’d agree with that.

Lewis: it’s nothing that we have ever had before and it’s such a crazy concept for us and we absolutely love it.

@OfMiceandMcvey asked who isyour biggest inspiration?

Luke: Mine would definitely be Ed Sheeran because I feel like the way he acts about everything, his personality comes across really well in everything he does, he seems like a really genuine guy and he does music for the music, he doesn’t do it for the money or the attention he does it cause he really loves it and I’d like to imitate that in a way like I’d love to be him.

Josh: I’d probably say Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake to be honest, ever since I was little I listened to them all the time and just the way they are, the music they produce, the music they write it’s just amazing.

Lewis: A lot of artists have always inspired me but I think the main person would have to be my Dad cause the first band I was in, was when I was 11 but before that my whole life he’s always been in bands, so the only things I have had around me has been bands so when I was younger I was going to gigs and seeing the fun they had and how happy it made everyone by playing music I mean if you’re playing in a pub to a load of friends it’s not like you’re doing it for the money you’re doing it purely for the love of the music and that’s what’s sort of rubbed off on me.

So, @GiraffeVamps wants to know, how did you all meet?

Lewis: Well, me and Luke were in a band together called FYI and that started about 4 or 5 years ago, we met from being in the gig scene, everyone always gigged together in different bands.

Luke: Actually, Lewis and I were both in bands and the singer of Lewis’ band was ill and he asked me to come in and sing for them cause he’d seen me at other gigs and we went on to that other band, after all that, that band broke up we all went our separate ways and Josh messaged me on Facebook asking me to start a band and then we met up for a coffee and really got on and then I got in Lewis and it was love ever since.

@UnicornsAreFxb asked, who picked the name The Secrets.

Lewis: It was actually a joint decision; we had like 100’s of names, it was a choice between The Secrets and a few others, The Craze so we could call our fans The Crazies but I think the best one that really stuck out was obviously The Secrets.

Luke: At first we weren’t really sure on a name and then after a month or so, the fans just loved it so it was a good decision in the end.

@WallisChloe53 said if you weren’t in the band what would you be doing?

Luke: I’d probably still be doing music, before the band I was doing my own stuff on YouTube saying that though I was working at McDonalds so hopefully I won’t have to go back to working at McDonalds.

Lewis: Yeah I’d definitely still be doing music, I was working for Domino’s before the band, even though I was working like 40 hours a week I was still busking in the day times trying to just do the music it’s always been a passion.

Josh: Well before the band I was working with my Dad doing Fire Protection, but I mean, with music, it’s just what I want to do forever, pretty much it’s just great, I just love it.

Luke: What would you do if the band like ended, what would happen?

Josh: It’s not going to end.

Luke: Yeah I know that but let’s say it hypothetically it got blew up… yeah if the band got blew up.

Josh: Yeah, just continue with music.

@FxckTheSecrets wants to know what colour socks you’re wearing?

Lewis: Right now I am wearing, black and blue succulent fluffy socks, which are unbelievably warm… ah Luke’s are well good… go on Luke.

Luke: I have Mr Men socks – Mr Tickle is now on my foot, he’s not tickling them but he’s on my foot.

Josh: I’ve got black, blue and orange socks on and I’ve just found a penny inside them.

Luke: They are my socks… you thief… yeah Josh is wearing my socks, just so you know.

As you guys are called The Secrets, are there are secrets that you can tell us?

Lewis: uhm we don’t really have any secrets because me, Luke and Josh all live together but if we did have secrets we wouldn’t be able to co-exist as we have done.

Luke: I think she means do we have any secrets to tell them?

Exactly, we don’t live with you guys…

Luke: One little secret is that Lewis takes like three hours in the shower.

Lewis: That’s not a secret, that’s for anyone to find out.

Luke: Josh is a very good cook; he makes spaghetti Bolognaise with red wine in it.

Lewis: oh Yeah, Josh has an unbelievable Germ phobia which is good in a way in a sense that he is obviously clean but it’s so annoying when it’s like Dude can I have a bit of your drink, I’m really thirsty and he’s like uhmmm well no then you have to find a glass or something and you have to pour it into that, it’s just really annoying, he’s really really anal about it.

Luke: I also fancy Josh’s mum.

Josh: WHATTT Dude.

Luke: I’d like to say I’m joking but I’m not.

If you could be any animal what would you be and why?

Luke: I’d personally say, a cat because they get what they want, when they want, they get fussed over all day, they get fed, if they are still hungry they go out and just kill something and eat it, it’s just an all round chilled out animal.

Lewis: I’d like to be a cat – but a big cat like a lion or something like that, I’d like to be the dominant man of the pride like grrr if anyone steps near my family I’m gonna kill you, I’m very protective so I think that portrays my animal world.

Josh: I’d like to be a Monkey but I have no idea why they are just cool, I just love Monkeys.

Luke: So you can be in the new One Direction video.

Josh: Yeah.

So there you have it!

The Secrets are definitely a band to look our for in 2015!

We wish them all the best and can’t wait to hear their new material.

Don’t forget to follow the band on Twitter – @TheSecretsMusic and keep an eye out for our ‘OR’ game, which will be available to read later today!

As you may or may not know, us Brumoters LOVE discovering new artists- especially a good boyband.

Here at Brumotions, we recently got the chance to talk with rising stars – Josh, Lewis and Luke to get to know them a little better and see what they have planned for 2015.

*WARNING* This interview is packed with plenty of laughs and some of YOUR fan questions Check it out and let us know what you think…

So for those who don’t know you guys, what makes The Secrets, The Secrets?

Luke: I suppose it would be that we all sing, that we’re a three piece cross between a boyband and your typical rock band because we play our own instruments but we try and all sing, so I guess that’s us.

If you could describe your sound in three words collectively, what would they be?

Lewis: I think it would be fun. We’re really interactive when we’re playing.

Luke: We got our three words there…

Lewis: Yeah, they’re our three words – fun, interactive and…

Luke: You said really interactive.

Lewis: Alright, fun, really and interactive are our three words.

Have you had any interesting fan experiences with any of your Little Secrets?

Luke: I think Josh has one from Newcastle.

Josh: Yeah, in Newcastle, we were having pictures with the fans and a fan came behind me and tried to pull down my trousers, which was a bit crazy.

Lewis: That was a bit full on.

Luke: It’s not all like that; we have some really cool fans, it’s crazy cause they’re from all over the place and they all make us stuff – there was a fan from Birmingham that made me a book for my 20th birthday with 20 things that they love about me, which was really cool and then some fans from Stafford made a big book for the band.

Lewis: It had loads of pictures they’d drawn, personal stories they’d had with us. This book was really massive, there were about 30 pages in there that they had absolutely filled, it was amazing.

Who would you most like to support live?

Lewis: I’d say Ed Sheeran or The Vamps.

Josh: Yeah.

Lewis: They’re both amazing, I think Ed Sheeran has so many amazing songs and the way that he does his songs, just him, his guitar and his loop pedal. It’s really inspiring just to watch him, especially from trying to make it through the years to becoming a band, we were all solo acts, so we’re trying to push ourselves forward, so actually being able to support him would be unreal.

Luke: Definitely, I’d agree with that as well.

Josh: One Direction, cause they have a massive crowd.

Luke: Yeah, that’d be pretty sick. I know he’s passed away now, but Michael Jackson to get some vocal lessons from him.

Can we expect any new and original music soon?

Luke: Yeah, we’re going in to the studio in December again to record some more tracks, we are just sorting out the demos now, we have about six or seven tracks ready to record, but in December we will probably record only one or two.

What are your favourite tracks to play live?

Lewis: Probably our own Maybe Baby and Forever, which are available now on ITunes.

Nice plug.

Lewis: Other than our own originals, I’d probably say either Thinking out Loud by Ed Sheeran or Titanium by David Guetta – I’m absolutely in love with the song, even though we are playing it, the harmonies that we have got in it are three part harmonies and they sound really nice. It’s really funny when we go busking, one of us will say what song’s next and I’ll say Titanium, every single time. One time we were busking in Bournemouth and we said ‘alright, we are going to go home now’ and I said ‘no, we’re going to do one last song – Titanium’ and we did it and got £30 in notes, it was like ‘screw you Luke’.

Luke: That’s his personal vendetta against me.

Lewis: Oh yeah, always – I just hate you Luke.

Luke: Oh, we’ve learnt a new Christmas song, which I really like playing, it’s the most cheesiest song ever but so much fun to play.

Lewis: Santa Claus is coming to town.

Luke: The Jackson 5 version, so it’s really cool.

So you mentioned Forever and Maybe Baby, what was your inspiration for those?

Luke: Forever was about an ex-girlfriend and Maybe Baby was about a girl that I fancied – I was at home and I started writing the song, then Josh’s Dad Wayne started coming over and reeling off all of these lyrics and it was really cool and we all sat around the dinner table eating our tea, writing this song.

Is there any advice or mottos that you live by?

Lewis: Don’t stop, never give up. Just keep going, I mean for both me and Luke, music has been a massive part of our lives and for Josh it’s been a big part of his life the last four years, hasn’t it?

Josh: Yeah.

Lewis: We have always been trying to make it in music, the first band I was in, I was 11 years old. The only reason we’re starting to get a following now is just because we have got the determination cause we just don’t give up, we quit our jobs and University to try and go for it, I mean if we didn’t put the time in, we wouldn’t be where we are now.

Luke: I have a saying I like to think that I made up, it’s: Tomatoes are for people who like tomatoes and it basically means that not everyone is going to enjoy our music, there’s always going to be people that don’t like it, but we play our music for the people who love it.

We will have to steal that one.

Lewis: Another one I go by is: You miss 100% of the chances that you don’t take.

Do you have any up and coming gigs? Preferably in Paris (IAmConnorBall), Ireland (IrishTheSecrets) or Manchester (@BrandonMisses03) as requested by some of your fans?

Lewis: We had one that was close to Manchester, on Thursday 20th November, which was the Christmas Light Switch-On for Bolton in the town centre. But we don’t have any of them close to Paris or Ireland.

Luke: I can’t think of any in Ireland or Paris either, we had another one up near Manchester at Darwen Aldridge Community Academy on the 27th of November for a BTEC Music Evening… I can’t really think without looking at the diary though.

So that’s all for PART 1 with The Secrets – Keep Checking back for Part 2 on Wednesday 17th December.

So yesterday, you were all able to see PART 1 of our hilarious interview with The Maine’s bassist Garrett Nickelsen and lead guitarist Jared Monaco. But due to a long interview, you’re all able to check out the rest of our funny chat with the lads in PART 2 below!

– Have you ever asked for something ridiculous on your tour rider?

Jared: In the states, when we were doing a radio campaign for a little while – each time when you go to a radio station, you have a different rider than you would for most of your shows – and we decided to make it as ridiculous as we could.Garrett: I don’t remember exactly… Oh, it was something like one and a half cigarettes.Jared: Yeah, one and a half cigarettes, a baby-sized business suit and a collection of nice things.

– Did you get them?

Jared: Yeah! I mean they didn’t get us the baby-sized business suit, but they gave us a box full of stuff – so it had movies in it and candy, it was literally a box of nice things.Garrett: Did we ever get the cigarettes?Jared: I think we did, (laughing) the second one was literally broken in half.

– So you’re making new music soon, what can we expect or are you keeping it close to heart?

Garrett:No, I mean, there’s going to be guitars, there’s going to be some drums, I’ll probably play some bass. John will sing and there will be a record.Jared:We’ve been working on stuff a while, I mean we’ve been writing and we now have a lot of material ready. I can definitely say that it’s not going to be a dark and more sombre rock record like the last one, it will be… well I don’t know yet, I don’t want to say anything yet, but we do have a lot of stuff written and we’re going to possibly write some more.Garrett:I think it’s not going to be what people expect, which is a good thing.

– Any idea of when we can expect it?

Garrett: (laughing) December… twenty, not then. No… not until next year.Jared:Unless… I don’t know, we could die. We hope not!Garrett: That could happen! Or we could get in the studio and be like “F*ck! How do you work this stuff?”Jared:And never get anything done, but yeah, I think we’re shooting for earlier next year but we don’t know yet, we need to record first.

– Is there any advice or motto that you live by?

Garrett: Make sure you go to bed.Jared: Okay.Garrett: What was that one now…Jared: Don’t listen to anybody… I like that.Garrett:Uhhh… Don’t let anybody tell you that you’re doing it wrong cause you’re not, say “f*ck that”…Jared:I’m doing…Garrett:What’s the quote? Scratch that! Go the bed, that’s the one.

– If you could be any animal, which animal would you be?

Garrett:Duck-billed Platypus.Jared: I’d be a T-Rex.Garrett:That’s a dinosaur!Jared:It’s an animal still!

– But you’d be extinct?

Jared:Yeah, but at least I’d be sleeping peacefully.Garrett:No, you’d be oil.Jared:I’d be oil? Oh… okay, I pick… a woolly mammoth, wait they’re extinct too…Garrett:You should have gone to the museum! There were tons of animals!Jared:Okay, well I want to fly so I’d be an eagle.

– If you were to take the Queen on a date, where would you take her?

Garrett:In-n-Out.Jared:I’d take her to a Marilyn Manson show.Garrett:Oh… F*ck yeah! I’d take her to a Marilyn Manson show.

– Watch her in the mosh-pit?

Jared:Yeah and I’d help lift her to go crowd surfing!Garrett:I’d take her to a haunted house and then she’ll hold on to me!Jared:You’re not supposed to scare the Queen though!Garrett:I don’t care!

– If you could be any instrument, which would you be and why?

Garrett:Tuba!Jared:That would be awesome.Garrett:Cause nobody wants to play Tuba.Jared:But then you’d have everybody’s mouth on you all the time.Garrett:(laughing) sounds good!Jared:(laughing) I would be… a saxophone.Garrett:Sexy Sax!Jared:Yeah!Garrett:F*ck yeah!

So there you have it!

The Maine are definitely one’s to look out for next year, with a potential new album on the horizon!

We wish them all the best and can’t wait to see what they come up with next!

They’re a group of highly talented lads, with incredible tracks within their arsenal!

Don’t forget to follow the lads on Twitter and keep an eye out for our ‘OR’ game, which will be available to read later today!

On October 7th, the O2 Academy in Birmingham was packed with ecstatic fans, waiting to see two separate shows! But while a bunch of highly dedicated fans were stuck outside in the midst of all the anarchy – Our Brumoters were having a lovely chat with The Maine’s lead guitaristJared Monaco and bassist Garrett Nickelsen!

Make sure to check out the band’s track ‘Forever Halloween’ in the video underneath the hilarious interview!

– So for those who don’t know you guys, what makes The Maine, The Maine?

Garrett:We are five boys from Phoenix, Arizona and we like to play rock’n’roll.Jared:That’s… I couldn’t do a better job.Garrett:Thanks man.

– So you’ve been to the UK 9 times so far, what makes you keep coming back?

Garrett: It… seems like people like us here, like just a little amount of people.Jared: Yeah, enough people to play a show in most cities.Garrett: So that’s been cool.Jared: We’ve been lucky enough to come back on a couple of support tours too, you know? We’ve been on the All Time Low tour, Deaf Havana tour and they do kind of help strengthen our fanbase over here so we’ve had these support tours, which have been great and it’s allowed us to come back and headline. It just made sense as we had some time at the end of this year and we wanted to make sure we showed our faces again.Garrett: And we got to bring our buddies Lydia and Nick Santino over and we kind of made it like a family thing and they all seem to be excited so it works.

– Speaking about people you’ve toured with, who would you say were your favourite’s and why?

Garrett:I feel like one of the first tours we did, with Good Charlotte. They were great guys and I feel like we learned so much from them, just like from a live show and how to be on tour and how to treat people on tour. I feel like… just learning wise, that was a big one.Jared: I really like when we toured with Taking Back Sunday, they were some of the coolest dudes ever. They were one of those bands where growing up, they were one of the reasons that I started playing local shows and to meet those people – especially Good Charlotte too – it’s good to meet those people and see that they’re awesome too and you can learn something from a band like that, who have been around for so long, so it was nice to be friends and learn so much from those guys.

– Was it a very surreal experience?

Jared: Yes, definitely. I mean, when we got the news that we were going to be on [Taking Back Sunday’s] tour], I think that was kind of the really surreal part and once we got ready really focusing on the tour, more so about business, getting out there and being ready for it. But it was definitely surreal.

– What are your favourite tracks to play live?

Jared:It’s always the newest songs that we’re playing live, at least for me. Right now we’re playing a song that is on the B-Side of our new record Forever Halloween, which is called Vanilla and that one has been really fun to play, it’s kind of fresh so…Garrett: Yeah, that one’s been really fun. I’m going to agree with that.

– What has been your most memorable career highlight so far?

Garrett:(Laughing) I was going to make a joke… I don’t know, probably the whole Pioneer thing. That whole record process… it was f*cked up, but it was cool and just us being able to grow in that kind of way, it made us realise that we could actually be a band.Jared:We had to fight out way off a record label so that was a whole situation for us.Garrett: I mean, that aside, just the recording of it. Doing it ourselves and that whole thing was really awesome and proved to me that if we were put in that situation that we could handle it.

– While on the subject of memorable experiences, have you guys had any interesting fan experiences?

Garrett:Everything’s been pretty much awesome.Jared:A guy said he was going to kill me in Amsterdam because I was American.Garrett:Yeah.Jared: And he got in my face and it got really bad. I really thought we were going to have to fight this guy. That was the day that we got there, before our show we were walking around downtown and we stopped for coffee and this guy just came up and started giving us all death threats cause he hated Americans so much… (laughing) and we were all wearing denim, so we all looked like cowboys… on this tour that was definitely the most stand out moment and I was like holy sh*t, hatred is still a thing in parts of the world, it was crazy.Garrett:For me the best part was when I was playing with my buddy Jared over here on Madden and I beat him by one point.Jared: Yeah, we set up the Xbox and started playing football on it… or I should say ‘American Football.’ Oh and I fell over and knocked over-Garrett: Oh yeah, that was fun.Jared: I was on stage the other night and our guitar tech Adam was kneeling down behind me as he was fixing some stuff and I didn’t see him. So I backed up, fell over him and I took out the whole wall that was behind me and I ended up on my back… I’ve never done that before, I mean you’ve taken a couple of spills.Garrett:Yeah, I’ve puked on stage and knocked stuff over.Jared: Well that was my very first experience belly up, so… it was pretty fun.

So that’s all for PART 1 of our interview with Garrett and Jared from The Maine!

So yesterday, we introduced you to the amazing Leo ‘Golden Child’ (If you haven’t already, check out Part 1 now!) and due to an incredibly hilarious and… long interview, we want to introduce you again with PART 2!

Featuring both Leo himself, 23, and his manager, Mark Tolliss, here is the second half of our amazing interview alongside some of YOUR questions from Twitter.

Enjoy!

And make sure to check out his music video, ‘Stay Positive’, below and read the interview with the amazing, Leo ‘Golden Child’!:

– So you’ve been added onto the Osfest line-up, how did that come about?

Leo: Well at the start, we had a lot of supporters saying that we should get involved with Osfest, so I brought it across with Mark and he said “We will get you into Osfest” with no hesitation, he just said that. So Mark went direct… and in a nutshell, after weeks of consistency, he made it happen and once again, it goes right back to the message of the music – Mark was talking about the genuineness, the school tour and the message and giving something back to the point where something had to give – they were more than happy to have me there and they want me there.

Mark: Carly Woodwood, the Events Director at Osfest is a lovely lady, but she must receive so many requests from people wanting to join the line-up. For me, as I said earlier, we’re nothing special, but we’re doing good because we want to and because it’s fun. So I just spoke to her and emailed her, telling her – this is what Leo is about, this is what we’re doing – my role is to be his manager, mentor, guide and guardian, I’m not here to make money. I told her that our ethics are exactly the same as the message we’re sending out.

Leo has been around for a couple of years, with his Union J stuff and onwards – from that, you don’t get a position on Osfest like that, it doesn’t happen. So the fact that it’s happened – we’re working hard, but it seems easy.

Leo: And enjoyable. We’ve had lots of positive feedback from the fans and I’m still not over it to be honest. Like I said, it’s the same if you’re studying… or you’re a manager, if you work hard – something has to give – So as much as it’s been a shock, it’s what we’ve achieved… It’s what our hard work has achieved.

– Is there anyone who you’re looking forward to seeing perform live yourself?

Leo: Conor Maynard I’d say… And meeting Union J again for the second time – especially as it’s more of a friendship now, so from Union J, who I’ve already supported, Luke Friend, Elyar Fox and Wiley, who I’ve already had a RT and comment back from on Twitter – So we’re at that stage now, where we’ve took it to another level, where it’s now a friendship. I’d probably say I’m most excited to see Union J though.

– So any new song releases to look forward to?

Leo: We have a song out for release this month – but I can’t release too much information on it, including the name. But it’s going to be epic, like all my songs, this one has a meaning to it – it’s more of a happy song.

Mark: It’s like the end of hurting, cause every song he’s doing – they’re about his life.

Leo: I mean, if you notice – like Mark said, they’re about my life. If you notice, I don’t do covers, all of my music is original and for an artist to get established without releasing covers is a hard task to do.

Mark: The fact Leo doesn’t do covers is, again, an absolute testament to him and his talent. Artists don’t really ever get noticed early on doing their own material. They normally have to do a lot of covers to get on the ‘scene’ before introducing their material, but Leo has been a one off – thankfully.

– What was the inspiration behind you track ‘Stay Positive’?

Leo: My inspiration was my mum – My mum and life. It’s about the way I felt at the time I wrote it, it was about staying positive and at the time, I was thinking ‘how can I stay positive?’ – I needed some source of positive character cause I didn’t have one really. I didn’t have that father figure around me. I didn’t have anybody I could really ring at this point – So I needed to do something as a backup.

So I’d say my mum was the biggest inspiration for that song… definitely.

– Now, the video has quite a lot of fan involvement, why did you decide to get them involved?

Leo: To put a legacy on… I want everyone to be positive! I genuinely wanted for that video – loads of smiles, loads of smiles and lots of different faces. Some people weren’t up for doing it and yet, other people were. I wanted people to see different characteristics, not just myself, so I thought – why not get everybody as a unit involved in this video.

It was a good way to get creative and do something for a good cause with a good song.

The song isn’t just a song and wasn’t supposed to be just a song, it’s more of an act – with real people smiling and staying positive – I just wanted to do something good.

So speaking of you amazing fans! We received quite a few questions from you guys on Twitter, so we asked and here is what Leo had to say!

– Which artists do you look up to? – @jadesaltx

Tinie Tempah.

– Whose your celebrity crush? – @jadesaltx

I have two: Fearne Cotton and Tich.

– What’s your childhood nickname? – @jadesaltx

In school, I was bullied a lot, I went to a school where everyone was different ethnicities, backgrounds and such – And I used to be picked on for being the darkest of the group. However, I decided to make a name for myself to stop people from saying stuff, so I decided to call myself Chalky – to resemble a chalk board.

– What is the best moment of your career so far? – @DaniTurner00

Meeting Mark – Definitely, no questions about it. He’s my manager and mentor, but has become like a father figure to me and I owe him such a lot. I have learnt so much about the industry, performing, etc. but I have learnt about life from him too. Our friendship is long term and I am thankful for that.

Mark: Wow, Can’t say anything other than thank you Leo! And I’m here for you throughout the whole journey!

– Which venue has been your favourite to perform at? – @thevamps5sos13

Buttermarket!

Mark: He did a gig at the Buttermarket, he does a lot at the Buttermarket – and Grant from there, supported him – to the point where, he doesn’t put Leo on first anymore – he puts him on second or third, ready to open the place up. It’s like… Leo did a gig there on Saturday (April 12th), supporting Tich and he was third on stage.

– Is there any advice or motto you live by? – @DaniTurner00

I would say, ‘Fly high like an eagle’ and ‘don’t settle for average.’

– Explain your music in five words? – @DaniTurner00

If I had to explain it in five words, they’d probably be: positive, story, emotional, creative and original.

– If you were to take the Queen on a date, where would you take her? – @_ortisewilliams

I’d probably say TGI’s. That way we can get deserts and chill out with chocolate waffles.

– Will you marry me? – @jadesaltx

Yes, of course!

So there you have it!

Leo ‘Golden Child’ is definitely one to look out for this year, with a list of amazing opportunities lined-up, we wish him all the best!

With great talent and an even better message being spread through his songs, Leo is the one to watch!